The (gluten free) chronicles of a 20 something living in Dubai, one gluten free day at a time.

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One of the worst situations is when you’re at home trying out different hairstyles and you just randomly pull your hair up and it looks good, and then you need a hair tie but you can never find one. If you have a group of girlfriends, or if you are in school/college, you probably have experienced a shortage of hair ties several times. There will always be a girlfriend every now and again who will ask to borrow an extra hair tie from you. Obviously, chances are, you might not even want it back after it’s been used. Or if you’re okay with that, your friend who ‘borrowed’ the hair tie is never going to give it back. Let’s just face it: A hair tie borrowed is a hair tie lost.

Moreover, I’ve noticed that many of the popular kinds of hair ties wear out pretty quickly. I’m talking about those thin black elastic hair ties with a little silver binding clip. I remember using them and having to throw them out after a few weeks because they wear out so fast.

Add that to the fact that someone always wants to borrow a hair tie and you will be in a shortage of it more often than you would like. It was back in school when I came up with this awesome idea. I have rarely ever bought hair ties after I came up with this. It saves me SO much time and money and I almost never experience a shortage! Buy one of these:

Elastic

It has been a life saver. You get a large amount of elastic for the price of 4-5 elastic hair ties. Obviously, buying the elastic is way more cost-effective. They are also often better quality and last much longer than store-bought hair ties. Here’s what you do:

STEP 1:Using one end, hold it around your wrist till it meets the other end of the elastic. I use this is a guide for how long I need the elastic to be. I like to wear my hair tie around my wrist for when I’m not wearing it so I don’t want it to be too loose. I do add an extra inch thought for tying the knot.

STEP 2:Cut it off when you’ve achieved your desired size.

STEP 3:Take both ends and tie a knot. Pull both edges (the loop and the extra bit after the knot) to tighten the knot.

STEP 4:Cut off the extra bits just after the knot.

There you have it! An easy way to make hair ties yourself! I usually make sure the knot is underneath so it doesn’t show. This way, you can make hair ties whenever you need them for a lesser price and they usually last longer as well. Win-win!

How many times have you bought nail polish that is a nice lovely light shade only to find out later that it is sheer?

I HATE IT. ARGH!

I like wearing sheer nail polish from time to time, especially very light pink shades. It gives my nails a glossy look, with a healthy pink tint. Looks lovely. Looks great on french manicures as well, instead of the usual clear coat. But sometimes, I want that exact light shade but opaque.

Case in point: O.P.I Nail Lacquer in ‘Passion’

Click on image to buy from Amazon for $5.99

Isn’t that an adorable colour? I was gifted this bottle and I was so excited to try it on. It’s SUCH a pretty shade! I love it so much! Except when I tried it on, I needed to put 4-5 thick coats to get the colour to show. I really hate it when the white part of the tips of my nails (the free edge) show under my nail polish. I just don’t like that.

Eureka moment. Apply white nail polish under the pink.

Use any white nail polish you have. I had some from a french manicure set and decided to use that. I put on two coats of white nail polish. One is enough if your white nail polish is opaque and smooth enough after the first coat.

Step 1: Apply white nail polish

Then apply the sheer pink nail polish. One coat brought out the colour but I wanted it a tad bit darker so I applied 2 coats.

Step 2: Apply the sheer nail polish colour

Look! Such a nice summery pastel colour! I love nude pink shades and this is just perfect! It’s beautiful! I love it! I always end up staring at my nails for ages when I do this colour.

Now instead of venting out frustration every time you end up with light coloured nail polish that turns out too sheer, you can try this out! Or just simply try it out with your sheer nail polishes to create a whole new look!